1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and method in which fonts are shared by a client computer and server capable of performing data communication with each other, a recording medium storing a program for executing a font sharing method, a client computer constructing a system in which fonts are shared, and a method of controlling the operation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a case where data is communicated between a client computer and a server and text is displayed or printed, three methods of displaying or printing characters having specific fonts are available.
Specifically, the first method includes transmitting data representing a character as well as data such as a name specifying the a character font from the client computer to the server and having the server display and/or print the a character having the font. Alternatively, the method includes transmitting the data representing a character as well as data such as a name specifying the a character font from the server to the client computer and having the client computer display and/or print the a character having the font.
The second method includes transmitting outline information from the client computer to the server and having the server display, for example, a character having an outline in accordance with the outline information, or transmitting outline information from the server to the client computer and having the client computer display, for example, a character having an outline in accordance with outline information.
The third method includes transmitting bitmap image data from the client computer to the server and having the server display, for example, a character based upon the bitmap image data, or transmitting bitmap image data from the server to the client computer and having the client computer display, for example, a character based upon the bitmap image data.
The first method is not appropriate for the current trend toward use of multiple platforms. The second method sends and receives outline information and therefore makes it difficult to protect any copyright that a font might possess. The third method sends and receives bitmap image data and therefore involves difficulty in terms of performing editing using the character. Since a large quantity of data is involved, moreover, communication cost is comparatively high.
There are also systems in which one host computer and a plurality of client computers are connected by a network and outline information for an outline font is transmitted from the host computer to the client computers in response to a transmission request. However, since the outline font depends upon the operating system, font type and character codes, etc., this arrangement is not very suitable for cases where foreign-language text is displayed or printed.